Baked foods commonly contain edible lipids which provide a taste benefit. These lipids are typically added to the foods in the form of butter or margarine. They can also be added as a solid or liquid shortening. Butter or margarine provides a butter flavor benefit not provided by most shortenings.
However, butter flavorants can be added to shortenings. Butter flavored shortening have been used as butter or margarine substitutes in cooking or baking. However, there are problems associated with the use of shortenings, butter flavored or otherwise. Shortening-containing baked goods are sometimes dry and overcooked. This happens because consumers tend to use surface browning of foods as the primary indicator of cooking progress rather than receipe times. Shortening-containing foods bake to lighter colors than margarine or butter-containing foods. Consumers tend to bake all foods, shortening-containing or otherwise, to the same brown color. This frequently results in overcooking and dryness of the shortening-containing foods. Even when consumers cook to recipe times rather than surface brownness, the shortening-containing foods often have an undesirably light, uncooked appearance.
Browning agents which are typically lipid insoluble have been added to lipid compositions by including them in the lipid insoluble phase of microemulsions. One product of this type is disclosed in El-Nokaly, Hiler and McGrady U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,337, Issued Sep. 3, 1991 (El-Nokaly et al.). In El-Nokaly et al., water-in-oil microemulsions are made from a polar solvent (i.e., water), polyglycerol mono/diester emulsifiers and lipid. The microemulsions can be used to encapsulate water-soluble materials including browning agents (i.e., proteins and reducing sugars) into lipid-based products such as cooking or salad oils.
Using microemulsion technology (e.g., per El-Nokaly et al.) as a means of adding reducing agents to lipid compositions provides an excellent way of preparing stable clear oil food products. However, use of such microemulsions can also present some difficulties. For example, preparation of water-in-oil microemulsions involves the use of a polar solvent such as water. Water added to shortening can cause spattering during cooking. Water can also promote lipid rancidity.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide nonaqueous shortening compositions that contain reducing sugars as a means for monitoring cooking progress. It is a further object of this invention to provide such compositions without relying upon microemulsion technology.